Peter Jakes is a Big Meanie
by Detective Snickers
Summary: AU set in the present day where the whole squad is in elementary school. Poor little Endeavour is picked on all too often.
1. Chapter 1

Endeavour slowly walked up to the door of Kindergarten classroom with his heart pounding in his chest and knocked on the door timidly. The door opened slowly to reveal a young woman smiling down at him.

"You must be Endeavour!" she said warmly, green eyes sparkling. Endeavour cringed internally a little at hearing his first name spoken aloud in a public area. He was always made fun of for his name, especially by other children. He nodded shyly and blushed.

"My name is Ms. Campbell, welcome to your first day!" the woman said as she gestured for Endeavour to follow her into the room. He stood next to her awkwardly in front of the class. The students were loud, yelling at each other from across the room, and throwing bits of paper at each other.

"Class!" Ms. Campbell said loudly. She was ignored and a paper plane shot across the room and hit her in the face, the kids in the back corner then bursting into a fit of giggles.

"Class!" Ms. Campbell yelled. The room went silent.

"Good!" she said, putting her hands together, "Now that I have your attention, I would like to announce that we have a new student joining us today." Everyone stared at Endeavour.

"Why don't you tell is your name?" Ms. Campbell suggested.

"Endeavour," he muttered.

"Speak louder, love, we can't hear you," Campbell said gently.

"Endeavour Morse," he said loudly. The class burst into laughter and Morse desperately wanted to bury his head in his hands, but he didn't, he just stood there, frozen.

"Wot kind of a silly name is that?" he heard a voice say.

"Enough!" Campbell commanded, "You will all treat our new student kindly." Silence.

"Sit anywhere you like," she whispered to Endeavour. He wandered over to an empty table and sat down. Not long after he sat down, and Ms. Campbell had told them to draw, a boy with shiny brown hair and wide, curious eyes sauntered over and sat down next to him.

"I'm George Fancy," the boy said in a squeaky voice. Endeavour looked up from his drawing.

"Hi," he quietly greeted George.

"Why are you so quiet?" George asked loudly.

"Why are you do loud?" Endeavour muttered under his breath. George seemed to ignore him.

"I like ice cream," George announced, "Do you like ice cream?"

"You're not actually hanging around with this loser are you?" a voice said from behind them. George and Endeavour turned around.

"New kids are always lame losers," the boy, who had ginger hair, sniffed.

"Don't be so rude Alan," George said in a protesting tone,"He's not a loser." Though Endeavour thought George rather annoying, he appreciated being defended nonetheless. Alan scoffed and walked away.

Endeavour was walking along down the hallway slowly, trying to waste as much time as possible. He didn't want to go to recess. He always hated recess. No one wanted to be with him, the bullies would always use any opportunities they could to pick on him or beat him up when the supervisor wasn't looking. He opened his locker and stared into it. He took out a pencil and a piece of paper. He was about to close it and begin the long, nerve-racking trek to the playground, when he sensed a presence behind him.

"So, you're the new kid," a smooth voice said behind him. Endeavour turned around to see a boy that was obviously older than him maybe a third or fourth grader, and had dark hair.

"Yeah. Who are you?" Endeavour demanded in a rare show of bravery, crossing his arms. The other boy gave him a rather condescending smirk.

"Peter Jakes," he answered, "You?"

"Endeavour Morse," Endeavour said. Peter cackled loudly, causing Endeavour to jump, then abruptly cut off. Peter then jabbed a stiff index finger into Endeavour's sternum, causing him to wince.

"Look skinny toe rag, I just wanted to let you know, that no matter what grade you're in, I'm the real boss around here, and you'd do best to remember it," Peter said with his face almost less than an inch away from Endeavour's. Endeavour cringed, uncomfortable with having his space so invaded. Oh well, at least Peter's breath was minty. Then, without warning, Peter snatched Endeavour and lifted him off of the ground by the collar of his hoodie and flung him into his locker, slamming the door closed and laughing as he walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

Endeavour slammed into the back of the locker as the door closed and his legs were shoved into his stomach. Peter walked away laughing, and Endeavour wanted to scream after him, but his ribs hurt too much to do anything. His chest was tight and he struggled for air, gasping. Sharp stabbing pains made their way down his torso and Endeavour winced, his big blue eyes filling with tears.

It had been a nasty first day for him. He was either being teased for his name, called a loser by his fellow classmates, or being followed around by George Fancy, who could be rather annoying and had a gross habit of chewing his hoodie strings. And now, Peter, a kid who he had just met and new next to nothing about, shoved him inside a locker. He didn't know what he had done to deserve this.

Large tears rolled down his freckled cheeks and he clenched his tawny-ginger curls in his fists. He let out a soft sob. He didn't know how long he had been in there, but it was enough time that Endeavour's sobs had turned into sniffles, with infrequent large gasps of air, when he heard footsteps. Frightened that Peter may be coming back, he froze and held his breath. The footsteps soon stopped, and the door to his locker slowly creaked open. Endeavour quivered with fear as an older boy,with brown hair and wearing all black crouched down and made eye contact with him.

"Hey, matey," the older boy said softly, "What are you doing in there?" Instead of answering, Endeavour stared at him.

"Who are you?" Endeavour asked cautiously, sniffling.

"Jim Strange," the other boy said, "Odd name, isn't it? What's yours?"

"Endeavour Morse," Endeavour said slowly, rubbing his red nose. Jim nodded, and there was a moment of silence.

"Peter shoved me in here," Endeavour said suddenly.

"Peter Jakes?" Jim asked, a frown crossing his face. Endeavour wiped away tears and nodded. Jim extended a hand to him and said,

"Let's get you out of there." Endeavour looked at Jim warily before taking it and letting himself be pulled out of the locker. Endeavour's tense muscles relaxed as he was allowed more space to move.

"Do you want to tell the principal what happened?" Jim asked, taking a step in the direction of the office. Endeavour's big blue eyes got impossibly wide and panic-filled.

"No, no, no, no, no, please!" Endeavour protested, his grip on Jim's hand tightening, "Telling always makes things worse."

"Alright, alright," Jim said gently, " It's okay, matey, I'm not going to tell if you don't want me to." Endeavour looked at him, slowly letting go of Jim's hand.

"You promise?" Endeavour asked quietly.

"I promise," Jim said solemnly, "Let's go to recess, I won't let Peter bother you." Endeavour nodded and they both started walking down the long hallway together.


End file.
